His mission wasn't impossible: Unlike Faulkner, U.S. spy agencies "kind of don't do the kamikaze thing anymore," an unidentified former U.S. spy tells Esquire. But even without U.S. intel, "it's very likely that Faulkner was right in Osama's neighborhood," and "perversely, there's always the chance that a freelancer like Faulkner, traveling light, unaccompanied, unaffiliated, unknown ... has a better chance" than a government agent to stumble upon bin Laden. "Spy: Vigilante ninja 'was right in Osama's neighborhood'"

The media's already made up its mind: If you're still "unsure whether to consider Faulkner an American hero or a dangerous loon," says Nate Jones in Time, the media isn't. By using three names instead of two, the press has "tipped its hand" that — like Lee Harvey Oswald and Mark David Chapman, for instance — Gary Brooks Faulkner "is just a crazy person." "Meet the American vigilante hunting bin Laden."